those welts blossom your skin
by neverephemeral
Summary: Each punch felt so good. The more she punched though, the more broken she felt. By the sixth punch, her hands were numb and she was crying.
**Hey, this is the next part. This time it's longer. :)**

* * *

 ** _Yeah, run if you want to.  
Yeah, run if you want to, time it the anchor, change is a constant, love is a trigger.  
-Time is the Anchor by Chris Pureka_**

 **S** weat poured down Darcy's neck, soaking the tank top that she was wearing. Her cheeks were flushed, forehead soaked in sweat and her whole body ached; her legs felt as though they were on fire and her arms, she winced every time she moved them. She so wanted to have someone give her a full body massage. For the past month, Steve had kept his word, and had been training Darcy in basic fight moves. Although the others knew about it, Darcy made sure that JARVIS locked the doors to the gym and cut the video feed. She didn't want them to see her practicing. Steve said that she was doing well and was making improvements every day but she was still self conscious about it.

Darcy threw one more punch to the punching bag before she dropped her arms to her sides. With the back of her hand, she brushed the hair that stuck to her forehead off to the side.

"How did I do, JARVIS?" Darcy asked.

"You did well, Miss Lewis," JARVIS answered. "You're improving every time you train."

"Think I could kick Steve's ass yet?"

"I'm afraid not."

Darcy laughed, "gee, thanks JARVIS."

"Nothing personal, Miss Lewis."

"We're still good, JARVIS," Darcy said.

"Oh good. I'll be able to sleep."

Darcy shook her head, she's pretty sure that the more she talks to the AI the more snarky he gets. She walked over the wooden bench and grabbed her water bottle. The way that she chugged it, you would think that she had spent a year in the desert. When she was done she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and then she started to fan herself; she was ready for a cold shower.

"To be fair, no one could really beat Rogers."

Darcy whipped around to find the one person she didn't want to see, Natasha. The other woman was standing there, dressed in her own work out clothes; black sweats with a matching black tank top. She looked just as good as Darcy remembered her. _She could be in a trash bag and I would still think she was the most sexiest woman ever,_ Darcy thought.

"What?" Darcy couldn't find anything else to say.

"Steve had serum injected into him so don't feel bad about not being able to beat him," Natasha said. "Although, I do think you could give him a run for his money."

"What are you doing here?" Darcy asked. " _How_ are you in here?"

Natasha shrugged, "I have my ways."

"I bet you do," Darcy mumbled as she turned her back to the other woman.

She needed to get her barrings back. Darcy felt as though the air had been sucked from the room and the walls were closing in on her. This was the first time that she was alone with Natasha since the dinner party. In fact, this was the first time Darcy was actually going to have to talk to her. Over the past month, Darcy had become creative in avoiding Natasha; when she couldn't avoid her altogether, she made damn sure that she didn't have to deal with her directly.

* * *

"Planning an escape?" Natasha asked.

"Do I need one?" Darcy asked.

"No."

"What do you want?"

"Will you look at me?"

Darcy shook her head, "what for?"

"It's rude to not look at the person talking to you."

Darcy scoffed.

"Please," Natasha whispered.

It wasn't the fact that she said please, that made Darcy turn around to face her, it was the _way_ she said it. There was almost a pleading tone to it, a longing and it was so sincere. It was something that Darcy hadn't heard from the red haired woman… ever. When Darcy turned and looked at her, she was closer; she had moved to the other side of the ring, close enough that Darcy only had to take a few steps to reach her but far enough away that Darcy didn't feel crowded. There was a look on Natasha's face that Darcy hadn't seen before either. It looked as though Natasha wanted to say something but she was struggling with whether or not she should said it. Darcy wanted to ask her, she wanted to open her mouth and say so much but Darcy was mute.

"So, you've been training," Natasha began.

"Yeah," Darcy nodded, "Steve's been helping me."

Natasha nodded, "he's doing a good job."

"I still have a lot of work to do," Darcy said.

"You're a quick learner," Natasha smirked.

Darcy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. _When did my arms become bricks,_ Darcy wondered.

"Come on," Natasha jumped up onto the edge of the ring and rolled under the ropes. When she stood back on her feet, she looked down at the other woman. "Come on."

"What?" Darcy asked.

"You need a sparring partner."

Darcy widened her eyes, "I need a what now?"

"Part of learning is doing. You said you have work to do," Natasha explained, "this is part of that work."

"Uhmmm..."

"You can't spar with Steve, really," she argued, "who else better to spar with than me?"

 _Was this even happening right now?_ Never did Darcy think that she would ever spar with Natasha. Once she thought about it but it ended with sex happening between the two of them; clearly that was not how this sparring session was going to end. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that Natasha was standing in the ring, urging her to spar. A part of Darcy though couldn't agree more with the assassin. She wouldn't mind giving Natasha a good backhand for what she said to her.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Darcy said.

"Nothing bad is going to happen," Natasha countered.

Darcy took a deep breath and got into the ring.

At first, nothing happened between the two women. Neither Natasha or Darcy made the first move; both of them stood in front of each other, unsure of the other. _Was this actually happening right now?_ Darcy could feel her heart begin to beat faster and it felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest. She felt like she was going to get sick.

It was another minute before Darcy threw a half-assed punch. Natasha dodged it, _of course,_ because she was a trained assassin and Darcy wasn't. The next punch she threw, was with her left hand and once again, it was dodged.

"You're not trying," Natasha said.

"Yes, I am."

"No," Natasha shook her head, "you're not. You're scared."

Darcy took a step back as if Natasha had swung at her.

"You're scared."

She shook her head, "no, I'm not."

Natasha raised her eyebrow, _really_?

Darcy threw another punch and this time she hit Natasha. She jumped back, as if she were expecting Natasha to retaliate. She didn't.

"You're still scared," Natasha said.

Darcy punched her again. This time a little harder. Natasha didn't punch back. So, Darcy threw another punch and again, Natasha didn't punch bag.

"You know," Darcy sighed, "the whole point of sparring with another person is because there's _another person._ "

Natasha didn't say anything but she raised her eyebrow.

"Really? You're not-" Darcy was cut off mid-sentence by Natasha's hands shoving her backwards. She stumbled until she hit the ropes. She was shocked and kind of mad that Natasha didn't let her finish her sentence. Darcy moved forward and went to shove Natasha but Natasha stepped aside and knocked her on her head.

* * *

That was the moment when something clicked in Darcy, a switch went on or off. That was the last moment that she could remember. Darcy couldn't remember when Darcy started to _fight_ Natasha but it happened. She didn't really know how much anger she felt toward the other woman until she started to spar with her. Each punch felt so good. The more she punched though, the more broken she felt. By the sixth punch, her hands were numb and she was crying.

JARVIS must have alerted the others to what was happening in the gym because Steve and Tony were both pulling Darcy away from Natasha as Bucky and Banner checked on her. As Darcy broke down in the corner of the gym, with Tony and Steve on either side of her; Steve's arm wrapped around her shoulders, Pepper and Jane both standing at the edge of the ring, concerned and sad looks on their face, Natasha stared back at her.

She looked just as broken.

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 ** _Thank you for reading! :) I hope you enjoyed it._**


End file.
